Bullying and social anxiety experiences in university learning situations Maili Pörhölä 1
Social anxiety and learning situations in university
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| 1.1 Social anxiety and learning situations in university Typical of socially anxious individuals is a fear that they will act in away (or show anxiety symptoms) that will be embarrassing and humiliating. Although they recognize that their fear is unreasonable or excessive, they tend to avoid the feared situations or else are faced with intense anxiety and distress. The avoidance, anxious anticipation, or distress in the feared social or performance situations interferes significantly with the persons normal routine, occupational or academic functioning, or social activities or relationships (DSM-5 Social anxiety is seen to arise from the prospector presence of interpersonal evaluation in real or imagined social situations (Schlenker and Leary 1982 ), and it can manifest on multiple levels, including physiological (e.g., increased heart rate and muscle tension, sweating, trembling, cognitive (e.g., negative expectations and self- evaluations, affective (e.g., fear, anxiety, and behavioral (e.g., lack of fluency and attentiveness. The results can include, among others, an inability to write in public, or a reluctance to speak with other people. Social anxiety tends to emerge in adolescence or early adulthood (Rachman The cognitive theory of social anxiety (e.g., Clark and Wells 1995 ) can be applied to help understand how cognitive and interpretive biases that operate in social anxiety affect the behavioral choices socially anxious individuals tend to make in social events such as learning situations in university. This theory assumes that socially anxious people have a strong tendency to overpredict the probability and the seriousness of aversive social situations, being prone to information-processing biases in these situations. They tend to interpret social situations in a threatening manner due to the distorted assumptions they make about interaction, themselves, and the ways in which they should behave in these situations. Having unreasonably high standards for their own social behavior, they make negative self-evaluations and anticipate corresponding perceptions of their behavior by others. When they enter Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. 727 1 Bullying and social anxiety experiences in university learning… a demanding social situation, they begin to experience high levels of autonomic arousal, the sensations of which (e.g., increased heart rate, trembling hands) interfere with their ability to process the ongoing interaction. As the result, their negative self-evaluations are triggered, confirming their anticipation of the inadequacy and unacceptability of their behavior. In an attempt to reduce the risk of being negatively perceived by others, socially anxious people tend to engage in safety behavior, such as avoidance of being initiative in social interaction or avoidance of social situations as much as possible. Behavioral choices they therefore make can be interpreted as a display of disinterest or even non-friendly, which elicits corresponding behavior from their interaction partners to further confirm their fears that other people disapprove them. The distress, negative expectations, and avoidance behavior provoked in university learning situations can hamper socially anxious students learning and study success. For example, Topham and Russell ( 2012 ) suggest that these students can miss out on many learning opportunities because they tend to focus on their anxiety and avoid interaction. Therefore, their study success can be lower than they wish it was or believe it should be, which might cause further anxiety in various kinds of learning situations. In Finland, specific social anxiety evoked in university learning contexts was experienced as a substantial problem by 17% of female and 11% of male university students and as a mild problem by 39% of female and 36% of male students (Almonkari and Kunttu 2012 ). Learning situations in which students experienced the highest frequencies of social anxiety were, in descending order, talking to an audience, academic seminar discussions, and speaking foreign languages. Situations in which social anxiety was reported less frequently included talking with a teacher and taking written exams. In comparison, in the United Kingdom, Russell and Shaw ( 2009 ) found that approximately 10% of students reported marked to severe social anxiety in learning situations at university. Situations in which the highest frequencies of severe fear were reported were, in descending order, talking to a large audience, taking written tests, giving a report to a small group, and speaking up in a meeting. In another study in the United Kingdom, Russell and Topham ( 2012 ) found that, again, the highest number of students reported frequent experiences of social anxiety when giving presentations, followed by participating in seminars, in group work, attending lectures, and finally when sharing IT facilities in education. In a study by Almonkari ( 2007 ), 54% of students who reported feelings of social anxiety in learning situations at university interpreted that their fear originated in previous experiences of being bullied by peers, and a study by Almonkari and Kunttu ( 2012 ) further suggests an association between bullying victimization and specific social anxiety experiences in university learning contexts. Indeed, characteristic features of bullying victims include a tendency to anticipate negative evaluation (Storch et al. 2003 ; Storch and Masia-Warner 2004 ), and a lowered self-esteem (Arseneault et al. 2010 ; Juvonen et al. 2000 ). The victims also tend to suffer from long-term generalized social anxiety (Copeland et al. 2013 ; Lereya et al. 2015 ; Newman et al. 2005 ). The accumulation of social anxiety and bullying experiences in the same individuals can further increase the distress they feel in university learning situations. Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. MP rhl et alb Experiences of bullying and learning situations in university There is no consensus among researchers on how bullying in a higher education context should be defined, and consequently, definitions and measures used to assess the phenomenon have varied between studies. The definitions given to bullying arise from either school or workplace context, and stress three components of the phenomenon (a) the target person is exposed to aggressive behaviors or intentional/ goal-directed doing of harm by the perpetrators (b) this harm-doing is carried out repeatedly (c) the target person is somewhat helpless against the perpetrators due to the existing power imbalance between them (e.g., Olweus 1993 ; Volk et al. 2014 ). These components have been found to be widely adopted as criteria for bullying indifferent contexts (Gladden et al. 2014 ; Menesini and Salmivalli 2017 ; Pörhölä et al. 2006 ; Volk et al. 2014 ), and they were used in the present study for the definition given to the respondents. Existing research conducted indifferent countries has indicated that the most typical forms of bullying at university are verbal (e.g., inappropriate, nasty, rude, or hostile comments name calling mocking or criticism related to personal qualities) and relational (e.g., social exclusion spreading of malicious rumors or gossip damage caused to peer relationships. However, cyberbullying by means of communication technology and physical forms of bullying are less often reported (e.g., Giova- zolias and Malikiosi-Loizos 2016 ; Lund and Ross 2016 ; Matsunaga 2010 ; Pörhölä et al. 2016 ; Wensley and Campbell 2012 ). While the measures used to assess bullying have notably varied between studies, those studies which have included assessment of study-related or academic forms of bullying (e.g., humiliation or ridicule in connection with studies hints of being incompetent ignoring comments withholding of information ignoring requests for help) suggest that this kind of bullying is often experienced by students during higher education (Cooper et al. 2011 ; Marrac- cini et al. 2015 ; Pörhölä et al. 2016 ; Rospenda et al. 2013 ). For example, in a study by Pörhölä et al. ( 2016 ) among approximately 8500 university students in four countries (Argentina, Estonia, Finland, and the United States, the most often reported form of bullying victimization in all countries was unjustified criticism, belittling or humiliation related to studies, the number of students reporting these experiences varying from 11.5 to 14% between countries. This was followed by verbal attacks, mocking or criticism related to personal qualities, and damage to peer relationships or social discrimination. These findings suggest that some characteristics of academic interaction, such as evaluation and critique and challenging of ideas can sometimes be presented in such a form that they are felt to be intimidating and hurtful by some students. The critique given can be harsher and more negative to some students who might even feel they are being bullied. Due to having previous experiences of peer victimization at school, some students could also be more sensitive to evaluation and tend to interpret the critique they receive as bullying. If these students are repeatedly subjected to evaluation they experience as negative in learning contexts, they might start to feel social anxiety particularly in learning situations that provide an opportunity for criticizing an individual student’s skills, knowledge, performance, and even personal characteristics. Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. 729 1 Bullying and social anxiety experiences in university learning… Furthermore, while studies exist to show that being bullied by peers is associated with academic problems and deficiencies in academic achievements in childhood and adolescence (Espelage et al. 2013 ; Glew et al. 2005 ; Houbre et al. 2006 ; Juvonen et al. 2011 ; Perren et al. 2010 ; Strøm et al. 2013 ), this association may fall away as students grow up. In the year longitudinal study which examined the effects of middle school bullying and victimization through high school, Feldman et al. ( 2014 ) found that victimization was unrelated to academic achievement (i.e., the average grade a student received in all subjects attempted for any given year, and school attendance concurrently and overtime when controlling for simultaneous bullying behavior. Similarly, Holt et al. ( 2014 ) found that past bullying experiences were not associated with academic performance in college. Finally, a nationally representative survey with data from approximately 4400 students in Finnish universities indicated that students who were bullied by their fellow students in university did not differ from those uninvolved in bullying in the credits they earned per year, even though they were more exhausted and less satisfied with their academic achievements than students uninvolved in bullying (Saarinen These findings suggest that bullying victims at university could be individuals who are very focused on their studies and have high expectations for their study success, and therefore they might be particularly sensitive to the feedback and critique they receive of their study performances. This could further increase the distress and social anxiety they feel in learning situations that include evaluation. It is also reasonable to presume that experiences with bullying in one educational context, such as during primary and/or secondary school, would result, in particular, in feeling social anxiety in other educational contexts such as university. Having been bullied by peers during one’s schooldays often has long-term associations with the well-being and development of an individual (Arıcak 2016 ; Hawker and Boulton 2000 ; Pörhölä 2016 ; Reijntjes et al. 2010 ). Although the growing body of literature on the relationship between bullying victimization and aspects of well-being has focused on the child and adolescent population, and this research indicates a link between involvement in bullying and physical (e.g., aches and pains Due et al. 2005 ; Gini and Pozzoli 2013 ), psychological (e.g., depression, suicide ideation and self-harm behavior Reijntjes et al. 2010 ; Turner et al. 2013 ; Roland band social well-being (e.g., loneliness, withdrawal, peer integration difficulties Due et al. 2005 ; Pörhölä 2009 ; Reijntjes et al. 2010 ; Schäfer et al. 2004 ), there are other studies suggesting that these problems can last even into young adulthood (Espelage et al. 2016 ; Lereya et al. 2015 ; Meltzer et al. 2011 ; Newman et al. 2005 ; Wolke et al. Studies also exist to suggest a link between bullying victimization and post-trau- matic stress disorder (PTSD; e.g., Espelage et al. 2016 ). The meta-analysis of this research by Nielsen et al. ( 2015 ) shows that bullying is associated with symptoms of post-traumatic stress, but that there is a shortage of clinical and prospective research on that association. Their findings showed that 57% of victims of bullying report symptom scores for PTSD, which was a much higher percentage than the one for estimated lifetime prevalence of PTSD. The authors argue that, although exposure to bullying constitutes a systematic exposure to a series of negative events over a prolonged time period, rather than one traumatic event, researchers have claimed Content courtesy of Springer Nature, terms of use apply. Rights reserved. MP rhl et al. 1 that the distress many of the victims experience equalizes the stress associated with traumatic events. Together with current or previous exposure to bullying, having these accumulating issues in their well-being can create additional burden on victims study progress, hamper their integration into the academic community, and consequently increase the level of social anxiety they feel in situations in which they are expected to interact with peers and other members of the academic community in order to prove their skills and knowledge. Although research exists to show that involvement in bullying in any role (i.e., victim, bully, bully-victim) is associated with poorer psychosocial adjustment (i.e., higher levels of health problems, poorer emotional adjustment, and poorer school adjustment e.g., Nansel et al. 2004 ), the findings related to the relationship between bullying perpetration and social anxiety are controversial (for reviews, see, Arıcak 2016 ; Cowie 2013 ; Cowie et al. 2013 ). Because the present study focuses on bullying victims experiences of social anxiety, and due to space limitations, previous literature on the adjustment problems of other groups engaged in bullying is not reviewed here, although they are included in the data analysis. Download 0.6 Mb. Share with your friends:
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